Google’s Known Ranking Signals

As an SEO, you do keyword research and create content that performs well then algorithm updates come along.

Algorithm updates can help or hurt your rankings but they’re inevitable.

So facing facts and taking changes in your stride.

This list of Google’s known ranking factors will help you ger your webpages to the top of the SERPs.

But understand everything in SEO is debatable, especially on which ranking factors matter the most or which are more important.

So use this list of ranking factors to improve your SEO and marketing strategy.

What are Google’s ranking factors?

Ranking factors are standards used by Google for webpages to decide the relevant order they show for search query results.

Understanding ranking factors is important for effective SEO by:

Marketers
Content creators
SEO strategists

Because they help create a better user experience, which brings more leads and conversions for businesses.

Number of Google ranking factors

Google has over 200 ranking factors, some have been proven but others are speculation.

Since after each update, SEOs have to test changes.

Becuase thousands of algorithm updates have been implemented since 2006.

Known Ranking Factors

The top categories of ranking factors include:

Domain
Web Page
Web Site
Backlink
User Interaction
Google Algorithm Rules
Brand Signals
On-Site Webspam
Off-Site Webspam

Domain

Domain factors are ranking factors connecting with your domain, including:

Domain age
Domain Keyword
The first domain word is the Keyword
Domain registration length
Dubdomain Keyword
Domain history
Penalised Whois owner
Public WhoIs instead of private Whois

Web Page

Web Page level factors are factors that can be optimised on each webpage, like:

Keyword in title tag
Keyword at the beginning of title tag
Keyword in meta description tag
Keyword in H1 tag
Keyword frequency in content
Content length
Word count rankings
Linked table of contents
Keyword density
Semantically related keywords
Semantically related keyword in meta title and description
In-depth quality content
Useful content
Page loading speed via HTML
Page loading speed tested on Chrome
Core web vitals
No duplicate content on same website
Image optimised with ALT, title and file name
Recent content (newer = better)
Page age
Number of edits made to content during updates
Historical data on page updates
Proper use of rel=canonical
Keyword in H2 and H3 tags
Keyword in first 100 words
Grammar and spelling
Original page content
Entity match
Mobile useability and optimisation
Hidden content on mobile (might not be indexed)
Web page mobile optimisation
Multimedia, like images and videos
How many outbound links
Outbound links quality
Outbound links theme
Helpful supplementary content, like free tools and calculators
Content hidden behind tabs (might not be indexed and won’t show in search snippets)
How many internal links pointing to webpage
Internal links quality
Too many broken links (might lower ranking potential)
Web page reading level
Too many affiliate links
Too many HTML errors
Domain authority/trust level
Web page authority/trust level
PageRank
URL length
URL to homepage closeness
Keyword in URL
Human editors opinion
Web page’s category to web page relevance
User-friendly and readable content formatting
Sitemap.xml webpage priority
Webpages UX signal ranking for same keyword
Citing references and sources
User-friendly layout
URL string in Google search engine results
Internal link anchor text to web page
Structured data use

Web Site

Website-level factors are above the webpage level and look at aspects of the whole website, including:

Contact us page or appropriate amount of contact information
Website content provides value or new insights
TrustRank (linking closeness of website to known and trusted website)
Website freshness updates
Site architecture
Sitemap use
Long-term website downtime
Server location
HTTPs / valid SSL certificate use
Legal pages (terms and conditions and privacy policy)
Unique metadata
Breadcrumb markup
Mobile optimised website
User-friendly website (usabile and interactive)
Bounce rate
Domain authority
User reviews
Website reputation

Backlink

Backlink factors rank your webpages based on the websites linking to you.

High qulaity websites linking to your website means higher rankings when coupled with quality content.

The backlink factors include:

Linking domain age
How many referring domains
How mant links from separate c-class IPs
How many referring pages
Backlinks anchor text
Image links ALT
How many links from .edu and .gov domains
Linking webpage trust factor
Linking domain trust factor
Links from competitors
How many links from expected websites in same industry
Bad neighborhoods links
How many links not from ads
Referring domains country TLD
Domain authority
Some nofollow links
Link profile diversity
Content context of linking webpage’s content
More sponsored or UGC follow links
Backlinks to URLs with 301 redirects
The text that shows when hovering over a link
Webpage link location
Content link location
Relevant domains links
Relevant webpages links
Webpage’s keyword in title of linking webpage
Natural growth rate of links number
Unnatural growth rate of links number
Top resources links on certain topic or hubs
How many links from authority websites
Linked as Wikipedia article source
Words around backlinks
Backlink age
Real websites vs. fake blogs links
Natural link profile
Excessive reciprocal links
Real content vs. UGC links
Backlinks from webpages with 301 redirects
Linking website TrustRank
Fewer outbound links on linking webpage
Real content links vs. forums links
Linking content word count
Linking content quality
Sitewide links = one link

User Interaction

Google puts emphasis on providing an excellent user experience for website visitors.

These factors use user interaction to rank your webpages, including:

Exact keywork organic click through rate
Ranking keywords organic click through rates
Dwell time
Bounce rate
Measuring users interactions on websites based on RankBrain
Total direct traffic
Repeat visitors percentage
Blocked sites
Visitors percentage clicking on other SERP webpages after visiting your webpage
Webpages bookmark frequency by Chrome users
How many webpage comments

Google Algorithm Rules

Some Google Algorithm rules aren’t directly connected to webpages or domains.

Including factors looking at personalising search results for users or overall better search results.

Some of them include:

Diversity need in the SERP
Freshness need in the SERP
User browsing history
User search history
Brief answers, formatting, page authority and HTTPS for featured snippets
Geo-targeting
Adult content or curse words (excluded from safe search results)
High quality content standards for YMYL keywords
Legitimate DMCA complaints
Domain diversity need in SERP
Transactional searches
Local search results
Top Stories box news stories related to keyword
Search intent
Big brands with relevant content (Which rank higher)
Optimised results for Google Shopping
Image results
Branded search
Easter eggs and April Fools’ Day jokes and hoaxes from Google
Spammy queries
Spammy sites

Brand Signals

Focus on brand mentions and internet branding because ranking factors relate to brands, such as:

Brand plus keyword searches
Branded anchor text
Twitter profile with followers
Official LinkedIn page
Facebook page with likes
Branded searches
Known author or verified online profile
Real social media accounts
Top stories with brand mentions
Brand mentions without links
Physical office location

On-site Webspam

Your website shouldnt be spammy or look spammy to rank high on search engine results.

The following are related factors:

Low-quality content
Bad neighborhoods links
Sneaky and multiple redirects
Flagged server IP address
Distracting ads and popups
Spammy and difficult to close popups
Over-optimised website
Needless content
Doorway webpages use
Too many ads above the fold and not enough content
Hidden affiliate links
Low-value content websites
Affiliate sites
Meta tage keyword stuffing
Computer generated content
All outbound links are nofollow

Off-site Webspam

Off-site webspam factors are based on activities outside your website that connect with your website, including:

Unnatural backlinks and sudden increases in backlinks
Hacked website
Alot of low-quality backlinks
High percentage of unrelated website links
Low-quality directory links
Automatic links in widgets
Links from websites with the same server IP
Toxic anchor text
Ignoring manual actions in search console
Selling links
Temporary link schemes

Start with these Google Ranking Factors

Everyone has their own ranking factors they consider important.

The following ranking factors are based on basic improvements you can make without being overwelmed:

Content providing valuable and unique insights

Google emphasises quality content, so thats content that gives value and unique insights other website dont.

This can help improve your ranking because your audience will simply enjoy it.

Do this by:

Making sure you’re the subject expert or you understand the topic in-depth
Hire subject experts to write content
Give factual information, answering audience’s most important questions
Don’t write fluff

Content covers topics in-depth

To rank on the first page, dont write thin content.

Content should instead cover all areas, long or short form, to rank better in search results.

Do this by:

Studying competitors’ content and write about what they didnt
Cover every relevant topic area and answer all the questions readers might ask
Make text readable by adding images, clickable table of contents, jump links and CTAs to relevant information

Keywords in H1

The H1 shows what your content is about, so include your keyword in your H1.

But using the same sentence in your H1 and meta title can be seen as keyword stuffing.

But still make sure to add your keywords but change things up a little.

And remember to combine this with all on-page optimisation tactics like optimising meta data, URL, other headings, etc.

Content’s length

For content length, some SEO marketers say write more than 2000 words.

Althought, long-form content does get the most backlinks, but only write long-form to cover the whole topic.

Also check your competitors word count to see the standard of quality content for that topic.

So if your competitors write between 2000-4000 words and you write less, you wont rank higher than them for that term.

Page loading speed via HTML

Core web vitals is part of PageSpeed because a webpage’s speed affects user experience.

Website that are slow to load, will hurt their rankings and Google will rank competitors higher because they are faster and also have great content.

Mobile usability

More and more users are accessing websites using their mobile devices.

Google even sends mobile-friendliness notifications in Search Console when your website isn’t mobile responsive.

So its important to work on your mobile usability to keep Google and your users happy.

Conclusion

Use th above mentioned ranking factors as a guide to help your website and its web pages rank higher.

Just remember, user experience is important, so always optimise to appeal to your target audience.

Now its over to you.

Tell me which ranking factors have you optimised to rank your web pages higher?

Let me know in the comment section below.